The aim of this book is to offer the reader a critical edition of the petitions in their original Italian language that (Catholic) Jews residing in Italy submitted to the Fascist General Administration for Demography and Race (Demorazza) in order either to be “discriminated,” i.e., not subjected to various provisions of Mussolini’s racial laws of 1938, or “Aryanized,” i.e., be considered not of “the Jewish race,” as defined by the convoluted and inconsistent Fascist anti-Semitic legislation. Anyone born of parents who both were of “the Jewish race,” even though professing a religion other than Judaism, was deemed to be Jewish. Consequently, the racial laws affected not only those Italians who considered themselves Jewish, whether secular or religious, but also a significant number of Catholics whose ancestors had been Jewish, as the majority of the cases contained in this volume show.
